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The Daily Stoic

Why “Meditations” Needs a New Name—According to William O. Stephens

The Daily Stoic

Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures

Education, Business, Ryan Holiday, Society & Culture, Philosophy, Stoicism, 694393, Stoic Philosophy, Daily Stoic, Self-improvement, Stoic

4.55.3K Ratings

🗓️ 25 April 2026

⏱️ 37 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Most people read Marcus Aurelius the wrong way. In this episode, Ryan sits down with philosopher William Stephens to discuss why the title "Meditations" may be misleading, what these writings were actually meant to be, and how that changes the way we read them today. 


William O. Stephens is a philosopher specializing in Stoicism, ethics, and ancient philosophy. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and spent over 30 years teaching at Creighton University, where he is now Professor Emeritus. His work spans topics like friendship, ecology, and human nature, with a focus on Stoic thought. His latest book is Marcus Aurelius: Philosopher-King (2025), and he is also the author of Marcus Aurelius: A Guide for the Perplexed, Epictetus’s Encheiridion: A New Translation and Guide to Stoic Ethics, and Stoic Ethics: Epictetus and Happiness as Freedom

Check out more of William Stephens' work at https://WilliamOStephens.com/


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Transcript

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per month trial today at Shopify.co.uk.com.uk. Go to shopify.com.com.uk.uK. Go to Shopify.com.com.com. That's Shopify.com.com. Welcome to the Daily Stoic podcast.

1:24.7

Designed to help bring those four key stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice,

1:30.1

and wisdom into the real world.

1:35.4

Hey, it's Ryan.

1:36.9

Welcome to another episode of the Daily Stoic podcast.

1:41.7

Monday is Marcus Aurelius's birthday. It's almost 2,000 years old. Pretty incredible.

1:49.4

Before I get to that, two quick housekeeping announcements. I'm going on tour. I'm going to be on

1:54.4

the West Coast, San Francisco and Portland in June, Midwest, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis in August. Then in the fall and winter, I'm doing

2:06.0

Australia. And I'm doing Boston, Philadelphia, D.C. You can grab tickets for that at Dailystoke Live.com.

2:13.7

And then, in honor of Marks Reelis's birthday, on Monday, where you're doing a live Q&A, deep dive

2:19.0

into meditations as part of what we've been calling Meditations Month. I'd love to have you

...

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